Civilization's interest in predicting the location and
time of damaging earthquakes is obvious. The potential for devastation
of property that otherwise could be secured, and the loss of life that
otherwise could be prevented, are powerful reasons to find predictive
factors.

Some scientists have become aware of a correlation between sunspots
and Earthquakes and want to use the sunspot data to help predict
earthquakes. The theory is that an intensification of the magnetic
field can cause changes in the geo-sphere. The NASA and the European
Geosciences Union have already put their stamp of approval on the
sunspot hypothesis, which suggests that
changes in the sun-earth environment affects the magnetic field
of the earth that can trigger
earthquakes in areas prone to it. It is not clear how such a
trigger might work.

In the Journal of
Scientific Exploration, Vol. 17, No. 1, pp. 37–71, 2003, there
is an excellent report that addresses the more down-to-earth
problems facing geophysicists trying to understand earthquakes. The
paper is titled, Rocks That Crackle and
Sparkle and Glow: Strange Pre-Earthquake Phenomena,
by Dr. Friedemann T.
Freund, a professor in the Department of Physics, San Jose State
University, and a senior researcher at NASA Ames Research Center.
Dr. Freund writes, "Many strange phenomena precede large
earthquakes. Some of them have been reported for centuries, even
millennia. The list is long and diverse: bulging of the Earth’s
surface, changing well water levels, ground-hugging fog, low
frequency electromagnetic emission, earthquake lights from ridges
and mountain tops, magnetic field anomalies up to 0.5% of the
Earth’s dipole field, temperature anomalies by several degrees over
wide areas as seen in satellite images, changes in the plasma
density of the ionosphere, and strange animal behavior. Because it
seems nearly impossible to imagine that such diverse phenomena could
have a common physical cause, there is great confusion and even
greater controversy."

Freund outlines the basic
problem, "Based on
the reported laboratory results of electrical measurements, no
mechanism seemed to exist that could account for the generation of
those large currents in the Earth’s crust, which are needed to
explain the strong EM signals and magnetic anomalies that have been
documented before some earthquakes. Unfortunately, when a set of
observations cannot be explained within the framework of existing
knowledge, the tendency is not to believe the observation.
Therefore, a general malaise has taken root in the
geophysical community when it comes to the many reported non-seismic
and non-geodesic pre-earthquake phenomena… There seems to be no
bona fide physical process by which electric currents of
sufficient magnitude could be generated in crustal rocks."

Freund makes an excellent
attempt to explain all of the phenomena in terms of rock acting like
a p-type semi-conducting material when placed under stress. For
example, the emission of positive ions from the Earth’s surface may
act as nuclei for the ground-hugging fog that sometimes occur prior
to earthquake activity. And although the surface potential may only
be in the 1–2-Volt range, the associated electric field can reach
hundreds of thousands of Volts per centimeter, enough to cause
corona discharges, or "earthquake lights." Thermal anomalies seen
from space before an earthquake may be due to the emission of
infra-red light where the semi-conductor charge recombines at the
surface. Disturbed animal behavior may be due to the presence of
positive ions in the air.

As Freund says, this theory
places an explanation in the realm of semiconductor physics, which
means that geoscientists are not the best people to judge it. That
explains why the paper appears in a speculative journal. Freund
laments, "the peer review system often creates near-insurmountable
hurdles against the publication of data that seem contrary to
long-held beliefs." Freund has identified a source of charge in
stressed rocks that was not believed possible. He says, "…once fully
told and understood, the "story" [of p-holes] is basically so simple
that many mainstream geoscientists are left to wonder why it has
taken so long for them to be discovered. If they are so ubiquitous
as they appear to be, why did p-holes go unnoticed for over a
hundred years? Confronted with this question, by a twist of logic,
many 'mainstreamers' succumb to the impulse to reject the p-hole
concept out of hand.

The difficulties
encountered in the connection with p-holes are similar to others
that have punctuated the history of science. The discovery of the
p-holes as dormant yet powerful charge carriers in the Earth’s crust
calls for a new paradigm in earthquake research and beyond. More
often than not, any call for a new paradigm elicits opposition.
Therefore, I close with a quote from the philosopher Arthur
Schopenhauer, who ventured to say: 'all truth passes through three
stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed.
Third, it is accepted as being self-evident'."

If Freund has a problem
getting such a simple idea accepted, how much more difficult is it
going to be to get both astronomers and geoscientists to accept that
the Earth is a charged body in an Electric Universe?

The missing link between the
sunspots and earthquakes is the fact that the electric discharges on
the Sun that cause sunspots also affect the Earth's ionosphere. The
ionosphere forms one "plate" of a capacitor, while the Earth forms
the other. Changes of voltage on one plate will induce movement of
charge on the other. But unlike a capacitor, the Earth has charge
distributed beneath the surface. And if the subsurface rock has
become semi-conducting because of stress, there is an opportunity
for sudden electrical breakdown to occur through that rock. The
mystery of how the current is generated is solved and the link with
sunspots exposed. Subsurface lightning causes earthquakes! Seismic
waves are the equivalent of the rumble of thunder. The energy
released may be equivalent to the detonation of many atomic bombs
but only a small proportion needs to come from the release of strain
in the rocks. Most of it comes from the Earth's stored internal
electrical energy.

The latest issue of the IEEE
journal, SPECTRUM, features an article based on Freund's work that
looks at ways of predicting earthquakes. Once again, it seems that
scientific advances fare better today in the hands of electrical
engineers.